A Thankful Heart

I am currently sitting in lobby of Santisuk School. I know it has been a long time since I have written, so I figured that now is a good time to update everyone. I have so many stories of exciting things going on here--both at Santisuk School and personally in my life. I have learned quite a few things this month.

One of the many things I have learned is that it's not my life's calling to be a trip planner. Last week, I planned a trip to the beach with my students and some other teachers and students at the school. I wasn't exactly sure how to get to the beach because every time I have gone in the past, someone else took care of the details, but this time I was in charge. I invited a lot of people--and in Thailand, you have to know that if people say that they will "maybe" come, that means absolutely not...they're usually just too shy to say that to your face. Well, most of the people I invited said "maybe", and only four or five said they were coming for sure. Anyways, I ended up hiring a van and a driver to take us to the beach and we could have a max of 15 people. The day of the trip arrived and people began to show up. To my excitement/amazement/horror, 19 people came...that means that four people didn't have seats on the van........oh gosh. How could I tell an excited student that there wasn't enough room in the van??? Eventually we found a different way for the extra students to get there.

When we arrived at the beach, over half of the students "forgot" to bring a swimsuit or change of clothes...how can someone forget a swimsuit to go to the beach?! I just don't get it. As a result, he majority of the students chose not to swim, even though the water was absolutely beautiful. One of the students that came with us, Pang, was one of the people who didn't bring a change of clothes. I had never met her before that day, and she was extremely shy. I  tried to talk with her, but it was very difficult because her English skills are extremely low, so communication was next to impossible. I asked her if she wanted to swim and she told me that she didn't bring a change of clothes...I didn't want her to miss out, so I gave her my change of clothes to wear. Throughout the day I spent a lot of time with her, trying to communicate, and we would just laugh at not understanding each other. I think she's about 20 years old. The day ended and she went home. Just last night I saw her at the church service at Santisuk and she told me that she just became a Christian on Saturday! Thank the Lord! How exciting! In that moment, I realized that everything I am doing here in Thailand is completely worth it. People are hearing about Jesus, giving their life to Him, and growing in him, and I have the privilege to be apart of it.

In my last post, I asked you all to pray about some of our upcoming events. Well, they are both past and both of them were a success. The English Camp at the high school went so well. I was in charge of the music department. I taught the students some fun songs and we all had a great time being crazy together. Overall, there were about 230 students who attended the camp that day! Yesterday we had our Friendship Sunday (the first one in Lad Krabang). I think about 15 students came and we all ate together and just enjoyed each other's company. I think it went really well. Thank you for your prayers.

There are many things going on here this week. First of all, this is our last week of classes for this session. Classes end on Wednesday and afterward we're having a big pizza party. Since we are reading the story of Joseph in the class, the last two days I will show the class the Joseph movie. I really hope the students enjoy it. Also, Thursday is Thanksgiving! Wow, time has gone sooooo fast. Even in Thailand, and Thanksgiving is an American holiday, I have the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with over 20 Americans! We are going to eat at a buffet at a really nice hotel. I definitely have many things to be thankful for this year.

Please continue to remember me and Santisuk in your prayers. Pray that the school would grow, that people would accept Jesus as their Savior, and that when people do become Christians that they would be committed and devoted followers. Also, please pray for me about my future at Santisuk. As time continues to go by, I can't help but think about my plans next year. The idea of leaving this place already breaks my heart. Please pray that I would have direction and peace, and that God's will for me would be my greatest focus.

Thank you again. You are all great!

-Bethany

Month 2, Lad Krabang

It has been a really long time since I have written. I apologize for that, but I do have an excuse. I haven't had easy access to wifi for the past two weeks, so with my busy schedule and no wifi in my room, it has been pretty much impossible to update my blog. But, I have wifi now, so I can write as much as I want. 

The last few weeks have been really busy and have gone by very quickly. Last Saturday I moved to Lad Krabang to teach at the second Santisuk English School. It was interesting to pack and move all of my things from the first location to my new location. In Lad Krabang I have a new roommate. Her name is Jodeé and she is from South Africa. I met her in June when I was here the first time but I didn't know her very well. She is very sweet and it has been really nice being here with her. 

My second session began on Monday. This session is much different than last session because I am teaching only one class and I am taking a Thai class. At first I didn't think I would be able to study Thai  right away, but everything worked out for me to take the class this month. There are 4 other people taking the class. One of the 4 is Jodeé and the other three are Filipinos that live in Thailand. My teacher's name is Pim. She is 20 years old and an English major at a local University. Her English is okay, but she isn't fluent. This is her first time to teach and it's exciting to see her learn as a teacher and for us to learn as students. I have survived 4 days of class and I'm really excited to learn more! Please pray that I would learn quickly.

I'm only teaching one class this month, so compared to last month, I'm really enjoying the break. I'm teaching an Advanced Conversation class. This is basically a class that students will take after they have completed all the other levels. To take this class, the students should be close to fluent, so the class is like 2 hours of talking to each other. I am really enjoying that class as well.

At SES Lad Krabang, we have some upcoming events that could really use some prayer. First of all, on November 22, we are doing an English Day camp at the Local High School. There will be over 25 Foreign teachers and 8 or 9 Thai helpers. We will play games, sing songs, and spend time with the high school students. Over 200 students are signed up to come, so please pray that this event will go smoothly and that people would hear about and be interested in studying at Santisuk so they can hear about Jesus. Also, on November 24 we are having our first ever "Friendship Sunday". This is basically a normal church service that we really encourage our students to come to. After the service we will eat together and play games and hang out. We have over 50 students studying this month, so please pray that many of them would come for this Sunday. 

Thank you so much for your prayers. I really appreciate it. I am doing great. I'm still so thankful to be here. I am thoroughly enjoying my time with my students and friends here. Please continue to pray for me, my work here, and my potential future with this ministry. 

-Bethany 

I Can't Believe it's Already Been a Month!

OH NO! I'm already 4 days late. Sorry about that! I really am trying to be disciplined about writing a blog every week but these past few days have been absolutely crazy. I don't even know where to begin..

My super cute class! 

Tomorrow is the last day of my afternoon classes. It's definitely a bitter sweet thing to finish a session. It's exciting to see how far my students have come in the few weeks that I've spent with them. Considering the fact that I had never met any of my students 3 weeks ago, it's neat to see our friendships develop after such a short time; and the sweet, shy, and absolutely silent students from the first day seem like completely different people now. For their sake, I pray that they will continue to study at Santisuk so they will hear more about Jesus and His power. The most exciting conversation I've had with my classes this session happened a few days ago. I walked into the classroom and the first thing they asked me was, "Teacher, where do you think humans come from? Do you think we come from the monkey?" I quickly began to share that I think God created everything--the earth, sun, monkeys, and humans, but he made humans special--we do not come from monkeys. They then continued by asking..."So what do you think came first, the chicken or the egg?" It was exciting to share a little bit about what I believe with them and they were open to share what they believe as well.

I know I mentioned the possibility of taking a Thai class next month. I was really excited about it. I wasn't sure if it would happen or not, but I found out on Friday that they need me to teach at the other school (in Lad Krabang) next month. At first I was extremely disappointed. I was really looking forward to taking the class and learning Thai, but the more I've thought about it, the more I am realizing that I don't have the perfect plan. I thought back to last year when I was planning on going to college, but God had other plans for me, so he used my knee injury to change those plans. I was so sad and confused, but eventually I realized that God wanted me here, in Thailand--and I know now that His plan is so much better than my plan was. So regarding this situation, I slowly began to realize that if God could do that then, He is going to continue guiding me in His perfect plan. Sometime next week I'll be moving to the other location. Please pray for me about that. I love it there, but it's definitely a different atmosphere and change of pace.

Yes...they're crazy.

Please remember Santisuk English School in your prayers. Wonderful things are happening here and people are turning their lives to Jesus. Almost every day I will walk by a room where somebody is being mentored. It's completely normal for someone to grab their Bible and ask me to explain something to them. Tonight I was talking to my roommate about growing up in church. She mentioned something about being impressed that somebody had the Lord's Prayer memorized...I realized that for someone who has grown up in the church, the Lord's Prayer, and other things like that are completely normal. Everyone knows John 3:16 and Psalm 23, but the people here are completely starting from scratch. That is something that I have never thought of before. I know that I have definitely taken for granted growing up in a Christian home--and I think that most people who have grown up in the church would agree with me. It made me thankful for my family but also excited that these people are learning and have a serious desire to learn.

Thank you all so much! I would love to hear from you, so please feel free to email me or comment on this post. Thanks again for your prayers and support.

-Bethany

The one word that comes to my mind when I think about the fact that I'm in Thailand is: contentment. I am so thankful to be here. The other day I was walking home from school and I hit me for the 456,705,340,340 time that I'm in Thailand. Sometimes I feel the need to pinch myself just to make sure that I'm really here. I feel such a peace being here. On top of the great people and incredible ministry, I know that this is where I'm supposed to be and I wouldn't change it for the world.

This week has been extremely busy and I'm really looking forward to the weekend. Last week I was asked to help with the English 4 Kids program that Santisuk English school runs. So yesterday, on top of teaching my 3 normal classes, I have an extra hour of teaching a room full of 5th graders. I was really struggling with it for a while. Adding that class changes the whole layout of my day. I joked with my roommate, Gaan, that she could hit me every time I complained about it....and last night in my devotions the theme of what I read just happened to be about complaining. I'm thinking that's not a coincidence. But as of today, I'm enjoying the kids and I'm thankful that I can help.

Last Saturday I went to the market with my friend Nan. I have been to many markets in Thailand and this one was no different, but seeing the big slabs of meat hanging from the ceiling was just a reminder that I'm not in America. Later that evening I had the privilege to assist in making a Thai meal. We made Green Curry.

I am attempting to learn the Thai alphabet...If you don't know, the Thai alphabet is completely different from English. There are 44 consonants and 32 vowels...that makes 76 characters in their alphabet. Thanks to Gaan, I have "mastered" the first 10. We'll see how it goes.

Tonight I saw one of my closest students from when I was in Thailand in the spring. She came to the school just to see me and she brought me two books on learning Thai. She is so sweet and it was soooo exciting to see her again.

Lastly, please remember to keep me in your prayers. I have a very heavy schedule and I want to do the very best that I can. Also, please pray for my students that they would see the light of Jesus through the classes they are taking and that they would come to know Him as their personal Savior. Tonight in my Level 1 class we began to read the story about Jesus feeding the 5,000. The curriculum is set up so that only part of a story is read everyday. Today we read about Jesus asking Philip where to buy bread. Philip responded by saying that they would never have enough money to buy food for 5,000 people. That was the end of the first part of the story, and the students had to answer questions about it. One of the questions was this, "What do you think will happen next?" Two of the women both agreed and thought that Jesus would use his own money to buy bread for everyone. But one of the other women spoke up and said, "I think that Jesus is going to use his miraculous power to provide the bread for everyone". Immediately everyone in the room began to laugh as if her suggestion was a childish response....little do they know how true her statement is. They will find out on Monday!

Thanks again for your prayers! They are greatly appreciated

-Bethany

Classes!

A week has flown by and I'm still so thankful and excited to be here. One one of the responsibilities I was looking forward to was helping new American teachers adjust to Thailand. On Friday, a new group of teachers came and I was able to help give them the tour of the area. I showed them the school, where to eat, the mall, and other important places along the way. It is so exciting for me to tell people about the culture and country that I love so much (p.s. if any of you come, I would LOVVEEEE to show you around as well--and there's always a need for American teachers!). I also helped with their cultural orientation meeting. This meeting consists of some major cultural differences. It's exciting for me to see how quickly I was able to jump right back in to this ministry and country.

On top of teaching, I've been trying to think about different ways I can be plugged in with this church and ministry. Music ministry is definitely an area I have been apart of in the past, and I'm excited about that being a way I can help here as well. On Sunday night I helped lead worship for the Sunday night English service and I've already been asked to lead worship on Christmas Eve. This year will be Peace Fellowship Church's first Christmas Eve service. In Thailand, Christmas is just another work day, not even a holiday. I am also planning to start a "choir" and teach people to sing parts. A lot of people are really looking forward to that and they keep asking me when practices are going to start. Lastly, I've been seriously considering teaching a music class. This would more than likely be open only for the people who attend the church. There are many people who can play basic chords, but there are only a few who can read music. I'm not sure how that class will look, but I'm excited to see how the Lord uses my previous experience with music and worship ministry to help out the people here. 

Yesterday was the start of my first classes. When I was in Thailand before, every session I had a 7 am class, and I'm not really a  morning person, but I had to be. But this time, I was really looking forward to seeing what my schedule was going to be. For this month, I was given a 4-6pm and 7-9pm class. This schedule is so different than before, but I'm really excited about the change. I was really excited to begin and it feels like I never stopped teaching. I was given a Pre 1 and Level 1 class. Usually the Thai teachers are the only ones to teach pre 1 because in that level, the students' English is still extremely poor. I had taught pre 1 before, but at the beginning of my first class, I immediately saw that my students were really struggling to understand me. I was speaking very slowly and doing everything I could, but they just didn't seen to understand. It got a little better as the class went on, but I know it will be more of a struggle to teach that class. Please pray that my students would understand what I'm teaching them and that we would be able to enjoy the class together. My level 1 class was fantastic. Their English is so good. We had so much fun and I can already tell that I'm going to love them! 

Lastly, I'm seriously considering taking a Thai class next month. It will begin on October 25 and finish on November 21. The class is from 8 am-12pm and it's at an international school nearby. Because I would be required to study and practice my Thai a lot, I would not be teaching next month. Everyone seems to think that is the best option. I'm so excited about that, because I feel more of an urgency now to learn Thai than I did last time. 

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! Please continue to remember me in your prayers.

-Bethany

P.S. October 3 is my Mom's birthday, so if you see her, don't forget to wish her a Happy Birthday! :)

Also, I've been working on learning this Thai worship Song. My roommate, Gaan has been translating the meeting and helping me learn it in Thai. If you want to hear it, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFyK6WU10Co The meaning is basically that we don't know what will happen tomorrow and we may experience bad things or good things. But the one thing we can be sure of is that God is in control and He will direct us and He has the best in mind for us and don't have to be afraid to face the future because we have God helping us. 

Bangkok, Thailand (Second Edition)

Sawatdee Kha! Greetings from Thailand! I am so thankful for an easy and safe flight here. Words cannot even begin to explain the excitement that I experienced when I first landed at the airport in Bangkok, Thailand. It was like nothing I have ever experienced. I was trembling with excitement and I felt like a little kid as I stepped off the plane to my home for the next year. Along with the excitement came an overwhelming sense of peace--the best feeling in the world. Six friends were waiting for me at the airport and it felt like a reunion seeing their beautiful faces again.

My excitement continued to grow as I became more settled in. As I walked through the ally between my apartment and the school, I smiled and waved at the people working at the food stands and their smiles in return let me know that they remembered me too. Although I was so excited to be here again, nothing can even begin to compare with my excitement of seeing my previous student, Tid. When she was my student, I knew that she was not a Christian and I honestly didn't think she would ever become a Christian because of her devotion to her religion and studies. But I found out that she has accepted Jesus to be her Savior. How exciting is that?! There was something completely different about her and I know only Jesus could make that change. Thank you Jesus for saving her!

It's amazing how easy it has been to adjust back to Thai culture. I feel like I never left. My relationships have picked up right where they left off and I don't feel like I've missed anything. I have already been asked to lead worship for the Sunday night service. I feel such a purpose being here and it's wonderful knowing that I'm exactly where God wants me to be.

Next Wednesday I will begin teaching. I will have 2 classes, but I won't know what level or time I will teach until Monday. Please pray that I would be prepared and ready for this next month of teaching. Thank you all for your prayers and support! I would love to hear from you, so if you want to email me, my email is bethanyeder236@gmail.com

I love you all!

-Bethany
(Sorry, I don't have any pictures yet....hopefully I'll take some soon! :)

...and the Thailand adventure continues...

One of my worst decisions ever.........drinking Pepsi at 10:30 pm. But I guess that means now I don't have an excuse not to write a blog. So here I go! My mom has been bugging me for what feels like months about it. I think I have tried about 5 times to write an update but the words just won't come. I literally feel like words can't even begin to describe my life in Thailand. For example, at this very moment I am chatting with one of my students from last month. She and I are very close and she just told me that I am her first foreigner friend....and then went on to say that I am her best friend. It's times like these that I am sure that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be.

The last time I wrote I was asking you to pray because I needed direction as far as the upcoming future. Well, I could feel your prayers because since then I have had this feeling that my work here in Thailand isn't finished and that there is so much that I can do here. So, I'm planning to come back to Thailand in October for a year. It's so amazing for me to see how God has been orchestrating and moving me into this direction for almost two years now. I remember last year around this time after I hurt my knee, I was so confused about what God wanted me to do...I was supposed to go on two missions trips that summer and I couldn't. I just didn't understand why He wouldn't want me to go. But now I can see that if I wouldn't have hurt my knee, I more than likely wouldn't be here.

Tonight I was talking to my friend, Nan, and I was just telling her how exciting it is to be here and to hear about the people who are accepting Christ. She said, "It's still like this in America though." But I beg to differ. It's just different here in Thailand....I don't even know how to explain it. I think people are more open and serious about their relationship with Christ--maybe because it's harder to be a Christian here. I told her that I want to be apart of something that is real and effective for the cause of Christ.

I have an awesome praise. The past few weeks I have really been praying and looking into coming back here in October. I felt a huge peace about it, but I wasn't really sure about any details. It just so happens that one of the women that I have become extremely close to is leaving for a year to study in the Philippines and her room will be vacant for some time. She really needs someone to stay in her room because she doesn't want to lose it. It works out perfectly that I plan to come in October because I can just live in her apartment until she comes back. The only problem was that she really needed someone to stay from the months of July, August, and September. She couldn't afford to pay the rent and it wouldn't work for me to stay there unless she found someone for those months. We talked last week and I suggested that we pray about it for a week and see what happens. I just found out yesterday (4 days after we started praying), that someone will stay in the apartment until I get there. Coincidence? Ironic? I think not. Isn't that just awesome?! So now, when I come back, I will have a beautiful and amazing place to stay and at the same time I'll be helping out a friend who really needs it. It's so exciting to see the way God works.

I am so excited to see what God has planned for my future. I know that I do want to go to college, but I don't want to rush into it especially since I don't know exactly what I want to do. I would ask that you please remember me in your prayers. There are still many details that need to fall into place and I just would ask that you pray for wisdom and guidance as I leap until the unknown of this super exciting but super scary adventure. I know I will have to trust God to provide the funds and everything else I may need, but I know that He will if He wants me to be here.

Well, the Pepsi is starting to wear off...and 6am is going to come very, very, very soon. Thank you everyone and I will see you in about 4 weeks (I can't believe I'm coming back so soon!!!!). I love you all!

-Bethany

Crazy, busy, awesome..

I visited a beautiful sunflower field

So the title of my post pretty much sums up the past week. There are so many things going on and I feel like my head is going to explode..in a good way of course. I know I haven't written in a long time, but I promise it's not because I'm being lazy!!

My two classes are wonderful. I feel like I'm becoming closer to them everyday. Plus it's really neat to have two different classes because every group gives me a different experience. Some of our favorite things to do in class are play games and sing. Even though they're mostly all adults, they still get into the singing and the games--it's quite cute. Last week we played the game "telephone", the one where you whisper a sentence in the ear of the person next to you and it goes around until the last person has to repeat it. Well it's a difficult game for people who speak English, but even harder for people who speak English as a second language. As you can imagine, there was much laughter and confusion as we played. After a while, they all persuaded me into letting them say a Thai sentence. It was all good until they told me that I had to play too.........yeah....So I had to listen to the person next to me whisper a Thai sentence in my ear. Literally all I heard was, "Wa yaa wa wa ya nom wa wa ya." I tried my best to say it exactly the way I heard it...apparently it wasn't good enough. They didn't understand me at all. Everyone was laughing so hard that we had tears coming down our faces. It was great.

Bowling with my students!!

The nice part about my 1 pm class is that most of them are young and have a lot of free time since they are on summer vacation. The other day, I took a few of them bowling for the first time. It was hilarious. The funny thing about Thai culture is that most of them are timid and aren't encouraged to try new things, so most of my students have never gone bowling before. It was so cute and fun to try and teach them (with my awesome bowling skills....not. I think I scored 65 points), and see them get better as we continued to play. In level 1, every student has to write 3 essays. After bowling, one of the girls wrote her essay about the friends she has made at SES and that she really loves spending time with her teacher outside of class. It seriously warmed my heart to know that even though I'm exhausted, my students are being encouraged.

My dedicated class hard at work :)

I'm really excited because tomorrow, Caitlin and I are going to attempt cooking for some of our friends...we're going to make Fettuccine Alfredo. We'll see how it turns out! I don't know..but it should be interesting for sure because we only have two electric burner things..I can't wait to cook my own food! I never thought I'd miss cooking, but the idea of being able to make what I want when I want is something that we take for granted. Most people don't cook/don't even have a kitchen! It's crazy! Eating out is nice, but sometimes it's nice to just be home.

yeah..I learned how to play the ukelele.

Also, I have a prayer request. Before I came to Thailand, I applied to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. I hoped to major in TESOL (teaching English as a second language). I kind of said in my mind that either I would get into Moody or would come back to Thailand and do some ministry here for a longer period of time. Well, a few weeks ago, I found out that I was not accepted to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, but I was accepted to the Moody campus in Spokane, Washington. That was definitely a change in direction for me. Plus they don't offer TESOL. I also found out that I can't get a long term visa in Thailand unless I have a 4 year degree..so I'm kind of stuck and don't know what to do. Not only that, but I have to send a confirmation to Moody with a pretty large deposit BEFORE I get home. I just don't know what to do. I talked to some people about coming back to Thailand and studying at the international school really close to SES (they offer TESOL). I would just ask that if you think about it, could you pray for me for direction and confirmation about what I'm supposed to do? I think I assumed that coming to Thailand would make more clear to me what I'm supposed to do...but it hasn't at all. All I know now is that I love Thailand and the people and could see myself living here someday. I really appreciate you all! Please remember Caitlin and I in your prayers, and also our students. The most important thing we want is for them to hear about Jesus. Thank you all so much!

-Bethany

Day 1 of month 2...success.

First of all I am very sorry because I didn't even take one picture today...but other than that, today was a HUGE success..I don't want to get ahead of myself though.

Yesterday was really exciting for me. First of all, a bunch of our friends from Lad Krabang came to Ladprao to visit us!!!!!! I was so happy because Caitlin and I have missed them very much. It seems like it has been a month since we saw them last, not only a week. We went to the mall and went to Karaoke. Seriously, going to Karaoke with 4 boys is possibly the most hilarious thing I have ever seen/experienced in my life. They literally had no shame. I think that people from all over the mall stopped to see and hear them. I was laughing so hard that I was crying. PLUS all the songs were in Thai, so I didn't even understand what they were saying. Yeah, it was great.

I didn't get home last night until 8 pm and I still had to prepare all of my notes and things for my classes today. I was a little stressed about it, especially since I have a 7 am class and had to get up early. But I am very thankful to say that I got a good night's sleep and was very ready to start my day today.

My first class was amazing. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be. It helped that I already knew three of my students from the church. This class is a level 3 class and it is my first time teaching that level, so everything was new to me. But I felt so natural teaching. My students are wonderful. I have 9 in that class and they all seemed really excited about learning. It was a great way to start this session. Three of them had breakfast with me after and I think I'll be spending a lot of time with them!

My 1 pm class was really good too. They were mostly junior high girls. I have 9 in that class too. At first I thought it was going to be a more difficult class, but it turned out to me a lot better than I thought. They were all really shy at first because they are only in level 1 and their English isn't very good, and because they are young, but they quickly warmed up to me and it was a really fun class. Afterwards, I planned so many things that I want to do with them. They want to go bowling, ice skating, eat ice-cream..yeah, I'm really going to like this class. :)

After my 1 pm class, I had the privilege to meet one of my mom and sister's students, Nan. She came all the way to the school just to see me! She isn't even taking a class. I was so excited because I feel like I already knew her, but I didn't! She brought me a ton of desserts and we played games..I was so happy to meet her. Plus she has all these plans to take me places and do things with me. I feel so much better tonight than I did last night because I know so much more about the way my schedule will look and what my classes are like. Thank you all so much for praying!!! I really appreciate you and your consistency in praying for me. 

-Bethany

Songkran Festival!!!

My sweet friend Faa

My past week has consisted of many things...but it all circles around Songkran Festival (Thai new year). This is the biggest holiday in Thailand. They celebrate Songkran like we celebrate Christmas. Everyone goes home to their families and they get a week off of school and work. One of the main attractions of this holiday is the 3 day water festival. It's basically a continuous water fight with adults. People sit along the side of the road with water guns and big buckets of ice water and soak the poor, unknowing pedestrians. It was fantastic. I was so ready the first day. We went to this big market called JJ Market and walked along the road. At first I wanted to go to the market to buy things (souvenirs, gifts..etc), but I soon realized that would be impossible since it was water day, and I dove (literally) into the water games. I bought a water gun..I soon realized that the combination of the water gun and the fact that I'm foreign made me a major target. I was drenched. It was so much fun though.

I have powder paste all over my face!

Day two of water day happened to be Sunday, so our church went to the park for our service. I learned that on top of water, another tradition they have is to get a type of powder that is very similar to baby powder and mix it with water to make a paste. They then take the paste and plaster it on the faces of everyone. Again--since I have blonde hair and green eyes...I was a target again. So I left the park that day with nasty powder paste on my face. It was certainly entertaining.

so cute!

Day three of water day was none other than our moving day. We were sad/anxious/excited/nervous--pretty much every emotion you can imagine--about moving to Ladprao from Lad Krabang. First of all, packing up all of our things was very difficult. I have no idea how I fit everything the first time, but the second time was not easy. I finally finished and we moved to our new home. Everything is different. But I know we'll get used to it eventually.

During the week off, we had the privilege to go on vacation with the Cable family. Steve

If you can see--the dolphin is going through the hoops

Cable is the founder and Pastor of Santisuk English School and Peace Fellowship Church. His daughter is close to my age, and we had a really good time going to the beach, eating delicious food, relaxing, and just enjoying eachother. There was one day that we went to this Dolphin place and we saw a show! It was my first time ever seeing Dolphins in real life and they did these awesome tricks. SO GREAT!

Charissa on left and Heidi in the middle

As you can tell, we are having a really amazing time. I do have a request of you though. Next week we will start our second session of classes. I think Caitlin and I both are nervous about it because we both have two classes with at least 10 students (I only had one class with 4 students last month). My schedule is Monday through Friday: my first class is from 7-9 AM and my second class is 1-3 PM. I am already feeling tired and I haven't even started teaching yet. So if you could pray for me this upcoming week, I would really appreciate it. Thank you so much!!


-Bethany

Thailand Highlights

Hello! I know it has been so long since I wrote, and I sincerely apologize. I have just been over the top busy, and when I get home the only thing I want to do is sleep. Since so much has happened in the last week, and I can't write every detail, I think it would be best for me to share a few highlights.

The first highlight is sports camp. There were over 60 people from SES at Ladprao and Lad Krabang. It was a blast. Imagine: 60 people, a gym, no air conditioning, 100 degree weather...yeah, that about sums it up. It was fun to get to know and spend time with so many new people. One evening before dinner, one of the girls had a guitar out and started to sing. Eventually, a bunch of people were gathered around her singing worship songs. It was so cool--especially since many of the people that came are not Christians. Before going to sports camp, I was nervous about playing the sports because of my knee injury, but I soon realized that my knee is so much better than I think it is. I ended up playing every sport and my knee didn't hurt at all--everything else did though..

Another highlight of my week is Wednesday. Tuesday night I finished my class..it was bittersweet to know that I am 1/3 of the way done. It was sad to know that it was over, but I knew that I would still be spending time with my students even though we didn't have class. So on Wednesday, I planned an "outing" with a bunch of my friends. I love the fact that in Thailand everybody seems to hang out all the time--even if you invite them last minute. It ended up that four people came with us to see a movie at the mall. We decided that we wanted to go see a Thai movie. It was possibly the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. The movie had English subtitles, but the way some of it was translated cracked us up. It is amazing though, because it's very easy to follow along and understand what is going on in the movie. Since then, we have made so many references to the movie. It was extremely fun. The next day, we went back to the same mall with one of the girls and we taught her to ice skate (yes, there is an ice arena in the mall). She was so scared at first, but it was very fun. I love being able to experience these things with the people here.

I think the main highlight for me this week was Wednesday night. We knew that we had to cover a class because Dondon (the teacher) was going to be out of town. We were told we had to teach at 6, but on our way home, we found out we had to teach at 5 instead...Well, we didn't have any time, so we rushed to the school to start the class. Caitlin and I both were exhausted from our busy day, and the last thing we wanted to do in the world was teach a 3 hour class..but we did it anyway. Well, at the end of the class, I invited both of the students to come to get dessert with us, and they both said yes! We were so surprised. It ended up being so much fun even though we were both really tired. Today, Dondon told us that both of the girls want to spend more time with us, so they are coming with us to this place called JJ market tomorrow. It's so exciting because I know they aren't Christians and it's so good to know that they will be spending time with people from the church and people who are Christians. I'm just really excited about it!

If you think about it, please pray for Caitlin and I as we move from Lad Krabang to Ladprao next week. We're both feeling really sad/excited about it. It's going to be really sad to leave here because we may not see the people we've become so close to any more, and exciting because we have a whole new adventure to look forward to. Thanks for your prayers!!!

-Bethany

23 days already?!

On our way home tonight, we were with two of our friends from the church. As we were walking, the two boys began talking in Thai and laughing...As usual, I asked what they were talking about (I'm a curious person!). So they began to fill me in about this girl that we passed earlier. Apparently, one of the boys thought she was very cute and wanted to give her his number. Now this normally wouldn't be a big deal, but I'm pretty sure that I have the same conversation every single day with these guys...So i began laughing and said, "YOU LIKE TOO MANY GIRLS!!!!". The boy I was with quickly responded, "I like every girl........but I only love one girl." Well, that totally made me laugh!

The last few days have been really good. Yesterday was super fun--especially because we went to Karaoke! I have been wanting to go for quite a while now. Karaoke is a big thing in Thailand. It's so interesting, because the connotation of Karaoke in America usually has to do with a bar or a restaurant, but here, there are buildings that are only for Karaoke. I went with my students after class last night and there were four of us altogether. The thing you have to know about Thai people is that the majority of them are very shy and reserved. They don't really like to be noticed and will mostly stay in the background--so the idea of them singing karaoke was making me laugh before we even got there. When we got there, I was surprised to find that there are individual rooms to be used. So, the four of us were in our own little room where we could pick the songs we wanted. I chose the first song, because I assumed they would be too shy to start, but to my amazment, they completely transformed before my eyes. The shy, sweet, and reserved students I had come to know became crazy, hilarious, and obnoxious singers. It was fantastic! I will never ever forget that night...

I think that maybe a combination of singing last night, not getting enough sleep, and having the air contitioning on too high last night, made me a little sick today. I woke up with a  sore throat and I still don't feel the greatest. I think it was a little bit of a blessing though, because I ended up not having class since only one of my students could make it today. I definitely think it was a God thing, because I don't think I would have had the energy to teach for 2 hours today.

Tonight for dinner, I was really hungry--even though I wasn't feeling the greatest. So I told my friends that I wanted chicken and vegetables with rice. I was looking forward to it because I haven't really had a lot of vegetables since we got here...So, when my food finally came, I took a bite and immediately my mouth was burning! I looked at the person who ordered for me and said..."SPICY!". But they informed me that they ordered the food not spicy. Apparently, what is not spicy  to them is way too spicy for me. I ate a little bit, but I couldn't eat it all! Then to top it off, after I finished, one of the boys took a big bite of one of a red pepper. He told me that it was not spicy, just sour, and that I should try some. I'm not sure why I believed him...and I'm especially not sure why I didn't get the warning signs--the amount of water he was drinking, or the sweat pouring down his face--but I decided to taste it..WORST DECISION OF MY LIFE! My mouth  was burning for 30 minutes. Yeah, it was kind of dumb.

Well, we've been here for three weeks now. I'm loving it more everyday! Please, please, please keep us in prayer. We really appreciate you all.

-Bethany

APRIL FOOLS!

I've been thinking for so long about what to write today and I'm having a really hard time coming up with something. But I figure that if I just write, something will come eventually..I guess I'll start with yesterday afternoon. We were on our way home and I realized that it was the last day of March. Caitlin quickly reminded me that the next day would be April fools day. It was obvious that none of the people we were with had ever heard of it. So we informed them. I didn't really think that they really understood what it meant, but today I was proved otherwise..

We were getting ready to head out the door this morning and we both got Facebook messages from one of the girls we were with yesterday...it said, "Hello Bethany, I have been hit by a car. I am now in the hospital". Caitlin and I looked at eachother and immediately began to panic. We started to plan a visit to the hospital to see her and I wrote back to her asking if she was okay and if we could go see her. Her next response was this, "April fool...:p". AHH! Can you believe it? She completely got us!!! It was hilarious. 

At the school today, Fai, one of the girls I have become particularly close to, has been asking me to help her sing harmony. She has a beautiful voice and leads worship on Sunday mornings, but she really wants to know how to harmonize. Well, I began playing guitar and singing and remembered that she wanted to learn, so I started playing a simple worship song that we both knew and I taught her the harmony part. It was so fun for me to teach her. I could tell that she was trying so hard and after about 30 minutes of practicing, we had the song down perfectly. I was singing melody, and she was singing harmony like an angel. It's the little, spontaneous things that make Thailand different and wonderful. 

In the English classes that I'm teaching, some of the things that I have to teach are so funny, and some of the things are normal for us, but I've never really thought of them before. For example, I had to teach that when someone says, "Water?" it means, "Do you want some water?". Or if someone says, "Tired?" it means, "Are you tired?" Those are things that are completely normal and natural to us, but are super confusing to my students. I was so excited because tonight when we went to dinner, I was sitting with them and I noticed that one of the girls had not finished her dinner. So I said to her, "Full?", hoping that she would understand and remember what I had taught in class earlier. She immediately got a huge smile and I knew that she remembered and understood what I was saying. It was definitely encouraging and cute. 

One of the best things since we have been here for 3 weeks now is that people in our neighborhood are beginning to recognize us. We go to the same coffee shop almost everyday and order the same thing. At first it was so difficult to try and order, but now we just walk up and the lady knows exactly what we want! We also have quite a few restaurants where we eat lunch and now they know what we want! It makes me feel so special that they remember me! 

It seems like everyday is a new adventure, and I can't wait to see what other adventures are in store for us. Please keep praying for safety, good health, and most importantly that God would be working through us. Thank you so much. 

-Bethany

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! What a fantastic Easter it has been for us. There is something about being in another country and knowing that we can worship and praise the same Jesus anywhere in the world!

Our weekend has been wonderful--as usual. Yesterday we had the privilege to go to Pattaya, in a different province of Thailand, and go to the beach. Our main reason for going is because Dou, one of my students, was going to get baptized. It is so exciting to me to see the way God is working in his life and the other people we have been able to spend time with. I think maybe the coolest part about it was that 5 of Caitlin's students who are not Christians came to the beach with us and they were able to see the baptism and how exited Dou is.

The beach was fantastic. I love the beach. The only mini problem is that if you don't know me...I'm pretty much the whitest person ever...and even though I put sunscreen on two times, I look like a lobster. But it's okay--it was completely worth it. Caitlin and I both love the water, but hardly any of the people that came like to swim: either because they don't want to get tan (Thai people want to be white like us..and we want to be tan like them. weird?) or because they can't swim. But we got two of the guys to come out in the water with us, and one of them especially was scared of the water. We eventually persuaded him to jump into the waves, and it was SO funny to watch him attempt to swim. A wave would come and knock him over and then he would flail his arms around trying to get out of the water. The funniest part is that the water was only a little above my waist, and he is over 6 feet tall. It was great.

We also were able to go on this thing called the "banana boat". Basically it was a giant oblong flotation device that was pulled behind a boat and held 6 people. It was a trap. The driver would hit the gas really hard and we would go flying into the ocean abyss...it was intense. The hardest part was getting back onto it. All of us who did it were completely exhausted by the time it was over. It was so fun...but let me tell you, I can definitely feel that workout in my arms today. It was hard work!

Today was so good! We went to the main Santisuk church today for our service this morning. The whole place was packed! It was cute because they put on a short Easter program with singing in Thai and English,  and dancing. Pastor Steve Cable gave the message about the facts that Jesus did raise from the dead. It was so exciting for me because the girl I was sitting next to came with us from Lad Krabang and I know that she is not a Christian. The whole time I was praying that God would touch her heart with the truths of the sermon. Things are put in a different perspective when you go to church with someone who isn't saved. I think that usually we go to church on a Sunday morning surrounded by people who already know most of the things being taught. But here, many of the people who come to church don't even know who Jesus is! It's so different!

After the service there was a big meal for everyone who was at church. That's another thing I love about Thailand. People are constantly hanging out. Sunday isn't only church day, but it's hang out all day with friends too. I love it! After lunch a big group of my friends from Lad Krabang took us shopping--again. But it was super fun because they know everywhere to go that is cheap. So we went to this inside market and shopped for a long time. There were two boys with us and they wanted to wait outside for us because they didn't want to go shopping...but we made them come. We were at one shop and a few of us tried some sweaters on, and the boys held our purses and things for us while they waited. SO SWEET!

We ended up having a hangout in our apartment with three girls this evening. It was super fun. One of the girls that came we had just met today, so we didn't really know anything about her. Her English is super good, so it's really easy to talk to her and understand her. I asked her if she was a Christian and she said yes. So I proceeded by asking her how she became a Christian and she said, "Ohh, very long story!" But she ended up telling us that her family is Buddhist and that she had never heard about Jesus. One night though, she woke up with this extreme anxiety that she didn't even know how to explain. She said she began praying to Buddah to take it away, but it only got worse. She said that she eventually saw this figure standing in front of her, and she was so scared, but she heard a voice in her head that told her to pray..and she thought "I already did pray"..but then she heard the voice again saying, "No, not to Buddah, pray to the real God. Jesus." So, at that point, she accepted Jesus as her Savior. She said that now, two of her siblings are Christians and she prays for the rest of her family to know Jesus.

Isn't that possibly one of the greatest stories in the world?! I was blown away. Stories like this seem to be an everyday occurrence here. Well, this is a pretty long blog, and I am very exhausted, so I think I will be done writing for today.

Happy Easter everyone! CHRIST IS RISEN!!!

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through of Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:55-58)

-Bethany

Busy Week!!

There is so much to write! I am so sorry that it has been this long. BUT I am having an amazing time. I'll try and give a recap of my adventures since the last time I wrote. Okay, I'll begin with Sunday. Caitlin and I were asked to sing a song for the offering at church on Sunday. It was such a great opportunity. The church at Lad Krabang where we are is amazing. There are normally 20 people, but there were over 30 people last week. It's exciting to see the church grow.

On Monday night after teaching, we had a "girls night" with some of the girls at the school. It was so much fun. I think there were six of us and one of the ladies did our nails! They looked so good!! We also got pizza and one of the girls, Fai, walked with me to get the pizza. While we were waiting, I was talking to her about how cheap things are here. I asked her if there is a minimum wage in Thailand and she said that it is around 40 baht and hour (that's about $1.25). I was amazed by that! No wonder everything is cheaper here. I told her that minimum wage in America is over $7 an hour and she was completely blown away. Those things are so interesting to me.

This week, I began to help with another class. This is a pre 1 class where there is a family--a mom and three kids--and they don't know very much English at all. My job is to help them write their assigned sentences, work on conversation with them, and help them pronounce words. When we got to the pronunciation section, the sound of the day was "TH". I began saying words like "this", "that", "these", and they would repeat me. One of the boys could not make the "th" sound at all, and it was hilarious because he would stick his tongue out and open his mouth and then realize that he was doing it completely wrong. I think everyone in the room was cracking up! It was very funny.

We were nervous to take the "song tow" by ourselves!

The other day, Caitlin and I went on an adventure. We got up in the morning and took one of the public transportation methods (a song tow) BY OURSELVES, and went to this little place called Paseo. It's about 10 minutes away from our apartment, but it is so cute. There are little shops, coffee shops, clothes shops, and restaurants. We sat down at a coffee shop with our Bibles and books and read for a while. It almost felt like being home...especially since we paid almost $4 for our coffee!

Movie theater! 

We also had the opportunity to go to the movies! I was expecting it to be just like the theaters at home, but to my delight, each seat was like a recliner! It was wonderful. I could lean back and relax. I will never go to an American movie theater again! But I think the best part of the movie was the beginning--the previews for other movies. The movie we saw was an American movie in English, but the previews were Thai movies in Thai. One of the movie trailers was a horror/comedy movie, and Caitlin and I had no idea what they were saying, but the combination of the language, cheesy music, and acting...was hilarious. We were cracking up! All I know is that I want to go see that movie now, even if it is in another language!

Me teaching one
of my students
guitar! 

The last few days I have been REALLY craving French Toast...or really any breakfast food for that matter. The main breakfast they eat here is. . . rice. I mean, it's great and all, but I just really wanted some French Toast. This morning, the directors of the school, Dondon and Carol, invited us over for breakfast. Well, guess what they had for us?! FRENCH TOAST! I was so happy that I could hardly contain myself! They are so kind and thoughtful. I am completely satisfied now. :)

Well, we have another really long day ahead of us, so I should probably get some things done! Hopefully I'll write again soon. We appreciate your prayers for us and our students!

-Bethany

Pictures.

So much has happened since I wrote last. My internet hasn't been working very well, so that's why I haven't been able to write an update. And tonight I am extremely tired, so I think I will just upload some pictures tonight...

We rode on a water taxi, and this is
our view from the boat. It was such
a cool experience! 

In Thailand, they have a free train system...so cool, right?!

Water taxi! 

There are lots of skyscrapers in Thailand!

We went to this place called Asiatique, and it was
this cute place with quaint buildings and shops
and there was this little boy who was having his picture taken
 and i asked if icould get a picture of him, but he was SO shy.
His mom wanted a "foreigner"to take his picture, so
she was trying to coax him into
smiling.

Asiatique!

There are parrots in the middle of the mall...
no big deal.

Beautiful Sunset!

Fai and I! We have fun.

 

 P.S. I'm pretty sure that the picture thing took me double the time of just writing a blog. UGH! Oh well...Goodnight everyone.

-Bethany

The Park 

You know those nights when you get home after a long days work and can only think about going to bed?? Well, that was yesterday. Therefore, I didn't update the blog. So, today will have to be extra special. I loved today. I think it may have been the best day so far (every day seems to get even better). Like the past few days, Caitlin and I got up early and walked to the park (with iced coffee of course), and did our devotions. There is absolutely nothing better than reading about how amazing and awesome and wonderful God is and seeing the beauty of his creation at the same time. I'm reading the book, "Good to Great" by Chip Ingram, and today I read a part of the book referring to the beauty of God's creation. It says, "'The heavens declare the glory of God' (Ps. 19:1). It's impossible to dwell on the beauty of creation and continue to be self-absorbed. My times of soaking in the grandeur reminded me how small my focus had gotten and how big my God is. It restored great thoughts to a mind that had become overwhelmed with a lot of trivial ones."

A book in Thai!!

We walked around the park for a while and we found the library! It was so cool! We had to take our shoes off before going in, and when we got in there, they took our bags from us. Apparently we couldn't have anything with us to go into the actual book part. It was a really cool experience to look through the books and to try and find some in English (I only found 2).

Eggs and rice

For breakfast, we went to a little restaurant and had eggs with rice...and it was absolutely wonderful. One thing that I do notice about Thai food is that it all seems to be the same. At home, I usually have a main dish with a few side dishes...like chicken with potatoes and green beans....but here it's just like rice and chicken...or pork and rice. So it gets a little boring to me, but I am learning what I do like and what I don't like.

My amazing class!! 

Our afternoon at the school is always enjoyable, but I think today was better than ever. When we got there, Caitlin had to teach right away, so I played ping pong with the people hanging out there. By the way, my practicing is paying off because first of all, I woke up sore yesterday..so that's an obvious sign of hard work, and secondly because I won a few games today! Isn't that GREAT news?! A little while before my class was supposed to start, one of my students' moms came in and asked me to take a picture with them...and Caitlin told me that later she invited us to her hometown to go swimming whenever we want! Thai people are so sweet and thoughtful.

 My class went so well today. One of my students was out of town, so there were only three, but it was fine because we had so much fun anyway. I can tell that they are starting to feel more comfortable with me because they have started asking questions, and during the singing time today, they were really into it. I tried to make them do a rap version of the song, but they just laughed and said "NO!!!" haha and when they messed up the song they would laugh so hard that we had to stop because everyone was cracking up.

Dinner!!!

After class we all went out to eat to this Thai restaurant that specialized in seafood. I had no idea what to order because I couldn't read the Thai menu, and because I didn't even know what I would like. So everyone ordered for me. I ended up with seafood fried rice. Very delicious (in Thai "aroy mak mak")! We also had fried Calamari (squid). At first I was a little nervous, but it was actually really good! And to top it all off, we had coconut ice-cream! It was wonderful. It has been so fun to get to know my students the people from SES better. They are so fun and lighthearted and just enjoyable to be around.

Coconut Ice cream

I am so thankful for this opportunity I have to be here! Please continue to pray for Caitlin and I and the people we come in contact with. Love you all!

-Bethany

Ping-Pong champ...not

The beautiful garden! 

Our new spot! 

I am convinced that every day I am here, the more I love it and the more comfortable I feel. This morning Caitlin and I walked to the park that is pretty close to our apartment. On the way we stopped at a little coffee shop and had most delicious iced coffee (even though I regretted it later because I haven't had caffeine in a while so it made me really jittery). The park is sooo cool. It's literally like a rain forest in the middle of Bangkok. There are benches to sit on and a path that goes all the way around it--and it's HUGE. There is a big pond that is in the middle with cool trees around it and not to mention the Komodo Dragons. Today we saw one that was the size of an alligator. They are so scary!!! In one area of the park there is a garden of bushes that are trimmed into animals. I think the only place I've ever seen anything like that is on TV. There were elephants and birds, and horses and cows. It was so cool!! We found a place in the middle of that area that will probably be our spot from now on, and we did some reading and relaxing. Even though it's so hot, since we were in the shade, the temperature was actually pretty enjoyable.

Pizza!! 

When we left the park, we went straight to the school where there was pizza waiting for us! It was so nice because just last night I was saying to Caitlin that pizza sounded good, and we were talking about the American food we are already craving. The pizza definitely hit the spot. The rest of the afternoon before our classes was spent in the lobby of the school either playing ping-pong with the guys, or putting together a puzzle with the director's son, CJ. I think I played ping-pong for like 3 hours straight. The problem is, the only sport people play in Thailand is ping-pong..so as you can imagine, everyone is pretty good...and I am not good at all..but I am competitive..so it's just a lose-lose situation for me. Oh well..but I didn't even win one game out of the 3 hours I spent playing today. Hopefully all this losing will either make me more humble, or a better pin-pong player...........I'm hoping for the latter. lol

My class tonight went soooo well--even better than yesterday! I feel more comfortable with my students and I think they feel more comfortable with me too. Some of you may know that I really like to sing, and there is a part in the lesson that there is a singing time, so we all had so much fun with that today. I taught them the song "Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord". I separated them into two groups and made them stand up and sit down for their parts. It was super cute, and the best part is they don't get embarrassed to sing even if they can't. That was probably my favorite part of tonight and I think it was the student's favorite part too.

 After dinner Dou, one of my students and one of the guys in the church, invited Caitlin and I to walk to the market to have dinner. The market is absolutely HUGE. We finally found some food to eat and we sat down and hung out for a while. While we were sitting there, Dou began teaching us Thai words and phrases. It was so sweet because he would say a word and ask us to repeat and then he would say "That's so good!!" (even though we knew we were pronouncing it completely wrong). It was just a really good time. It was a great day!

 Alright, well I am off to bed! Thanks for keeping up! :)

-Bethany